Why do ‘You’ and ‘I’ Love Twitter?

Are you a twitter addict? Have you wondered why you get so wrapped up in twittering? Day and night then night and day? LOL Its like you couldn’t see your life without it. I mean, do you remember when twitter was down not too long ago, although I don’t twitter everyday, I did panic for a bit hoping it doesn’t last for long as I felt I really needed to tweet! LOL And the funniest thing about it for me is.. I think I could not function my professional life without it. Even my research depends alot on the communication I ‘give and receive’ on twitter.  Here is a couple of thoughts on why ‘YOU’ and ‘I’ might love twitter..

8 reasons why YOU and I might love Twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Brain dump: Its a brain dump when you need to get things off your mind.
2. Possible friendships?:Its a good collection of strangers, which later can become really good friends that are there for you at 3am in the morning when you are working on that late night paper or just feeling the blues…
3. Morning Greetings: It is the place you go to to say “Good morning world!” on the way to work, typing away on your fancy iPhone, blackberry or etc (to the envy of other people like me!) which helps lift your mood for the whole day at work. You would usually get the odd ‘Good morning’ back from somebody who might just share their traveling woes or the view of the journey crossing by beautiful countrysides with a twitpic attached so you could see the view too! How lovely 😉
4. Goodnight, goodbyes: Sometimes even I find it odd when I find myself telling the 600+ odd followers I currently have ‘Goodnight or goodbye’ and wishing them a good night sleep. I guess when we are within our own four walls at home it gives a sense of community or belonging therefore we feel we have somewhere we can go back to when we begin the next day ahead. I guess there is a sense of increased social capital or togetherness within the twitter community from which we belong. Think about it, how often do we say goodnight to our neighbours? LOL probably never! Maybe virtual communities are just another resort to make up for the lost of social capital in our physical communities?
5. Travel updates: Its lovely how twitter followers are spread across different geographical locations and there are no boundaries to who we talk to but there is always a possibility somebody is using the same mode of transportation as you are and are able to offer travel updates. Even if you’re at home and you see a friend in need of live information of your train that suddenly stopped or delayed. You probably would be able to inform your twitter friend on why his train has stopped and offer an alternative! And the best thing about it is that information is then broadcast to others on the same train using some sort of clever hashtag such as “southwesttrainsucks” LOL!
6. A place to collaborate: Is it just me or does twitter feel like an open-ended, open-space workshop, meeting place for people to collaborate and share ideas with no time and people fixed? I often find alot of people, including myself just throwing out questions to my followers and within seconds getting replies, feedbacks and even links that contains the answers I’m looking for.  The key here is the flexibility and the choice to join in a conversation or even just becoming an interested party that observes and learns from the conversations. Plus, isn’t it more time efficient than sitting in a room for an hour or two trying to find the answers with the same people we collaborate with every single working day? How are we ever going to get inspired in the same old environment?
7. A place to share experiences: I love this bit because there are so many tales and stories you could get from 140 chars that can escalate to the most interesting and fascinating stories I’ve ever heard in my whole life. Just imagine, I’m sitting in British Library working on my thesis feeling drained and absolutely exhausted from studying. Then I turn on my twitter and hear one of my twitter friends just literally had his baby daughter (yep thats you @Steventuck!), or going to the Leeds Festival (yep that’s you @sarahlay!) or almost getting hit by a bus (sadly but fortunately the bus missed, that’s you @jedi58!). It all can either make you smile, laugh, shocked, amused or just plain happy!  My favourite tweets to read must be from @dominiccampbell though… He tweets so much, it feels like you know him so well, well at least always know what he’s up to or where he is, or who he is sitting next to on the bus! LOL
8. News updates!: This is one of the most beneficial reasons why anyone should be on twitter. Its the quickest way to get up to the second information on important news updates. News travels faster on twitter than it does on the News! LOL With the use of hashtags #, news can be traced and updated easily by just about anyone. You don’t have to be a journalist to have a say on anything and everything! This certainly brings a greater sense of honesty and trustworthiness in the news we receive because it comes from different trusted sources who belong or are directly involved to the news being delivered. Personal experiences are always more reliable than some words coming from a second hand party such as news channels, doesn’t it?

 

Well this is all I can think of this Tuesday morning! If you have anymore to add, which I think can be ALOT, please feel free to add onto to it in the comments section. I’m interested to know WHY YOU TWITTER?

Psssttt: Are you still not following me on twitter?? Well, why the he** not? Start following me now and lets get talking! http://www.twitter.com/Liz_Azyan Its on private to avoid spammers, so just put in a request and if you’re not a spammer, you’ll be accepted!

Lots of love for all the twitterati’s around the world! And in case you didn’t guess it from the article… I love Twitter !

Liz